There is a lack of vacancy, and retailers are being cautious in this market, and are competing for C

Asking rents in the bustling online sports tickets center of Times Square more than doubled over the last year, pulling even for the first time with the city s most expensive district on Upper Fifth Avenue, commercial firm Cushman Wakefield reported Tuesday. Landlords are asking an average of $2,283 per square foot in the Bowtie where Broadway crosses Seventh Avenue a 117 percent increase from last year, when it was $1,052 online sports tickets per square foot.
Times Square rents have surged, Joanne Podell, company executive vice president, said. Retailers recognize that along with tremendous density (and) good co-tenants, the extended store hours have a significant positive effect on sales.
The most expensive listing in Times Square is Vornado Realty Trust space at the Marriott Marquis Times Square hotel, where insiders say Vornado is asking $2,350 per square foot on the ground floor. Vornado inked a 20-year deal with property online sports tickets owner Host Hotels Resorts and is redeveloping the retail, which it will then lease out to a new tenant.
One of the main drivers of the rise in Times Square asking rents, online sports tickets according to insiders, is the 30,000-square-foot Express deal at 1552 Broadway, owned by Jeff Sutton and SL Green Realty. Insiders are divided on the ground-floor rent, with some pegging online sports tickets it as $1,500 per foot, while other believe it is higher, at $2,000 per foot.
There is a lack of vacancy, and retailers online sports tickets are being cautious in this market, and are competing for Class A locations rather than going to tertiary markets, Thomas Citron, director in retail services at Cushman, said. And they are paying for it.